


Karasu Kanashimi - Rewritten

by Kacky119



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Female Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:22:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kacky119/pseuds/Kacky119
Summary: Karasu woke up all alone in a classroom with no memories what so ever. She couldn't even remember her own name! But that's the least of her worries when a murder panda shows up and says he will only let one person out if he or she murders a classmate and doesn't get caught. Will Karasu survive or die?Fem!HarryThis is intended for audiences who have read/played/seen all of the books/games/movies. As such, there will be spoilers.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	1. Welcome to Boarding School!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This is a non-profit work and I do not own Harry Potter or Danganronpa. They belong to their respective owners. Also, I am expecting my readers to already be familiar with both fandoms. If you have not seen the books, movies, games, etc. in its entirety, this is your spoiler warning

Karasu Kanashimi

Prologue

* * *

A teenage girl nearly tripped as she ran toward a friend. She just had a rough landing. But that won’t stop her. She flew nearly 6000 miles just to retrieve something she had hidden away. She would need it when she finally confronted  _ him _ . She had already contacted him a while ago, but it would still take a bit before he would arrive in Japan.

Granted it had only been less than a couple of years since they first met and nearly a year since they saw each other last. And she was taken away in the middle of the “parade”. She hadn’t meant to say hello, it would have been too painful and she might not have been able to find it within herself to do what must be done. But they saw her. Oh, how she wished she still had her cloak, but she lent it to someone she definitely would have broken down crying if she saw them while she was marching herself to her death.

“Hiiiii~ I didn’t think anyone around here was still alive! What are ya doing here?” the old friend asked way too cheerfully. 

She didn’t answer, she kept her gaze fixed on the horizon about an inch to the left of the old friend’s left ear.

“Hey! It’s rude to ignore someone, you know. Look at me will ya!” the old friend demanded and marched up to her. They grabbed her chin with a forcefulness she didn’t associate with them.

Then their eyes met.

And suddenly, everything was wrong wrong  _ wrong _ .

She searched for answers and found that the person she knew was never the one she’d known. It was all an act. If she had looked deeper sooner… perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out so bad.

“What have you done?” she asked her former friend—the traitor. Horror, betrayal, and heartbreak danced in her eyes; tears slowly and silently trailed down her cheeks.

Her old friend—the traitor—surveyed her from head to toe with eyes that didn’t seem to miss a detail. “Karasu was it, or at least that was the name you used when we were classmates,” they said then they smiled gleefully, “I was hoping you would turn up before the main event!”

She knew what they planned to do to their classmates. Her friends. The people who didn’t know who she really was and still treated her like a normal girl, a fellow classmate. And given the state of the world, the traitor cannot be talked out of this. She had to fight.

“I won’t let you hurt them,” she braced herself for a fight against someone she once considered a friend. She wished she had her wand. She wished she knew more wandless magic. She wished she took the time to learn to use offensive spells wandlessly but she wanted to fit in more than anything in the world. Unfortunately, she was never able to pull that off due to her fame and tendency to find trouble.

Even in the non-magical world, she still found herself in trouble...

“You honestly think that you can stand against us? You look like you haven’t had a proper meal in months.”

The traitor was right. She hasn’t been taking care of herself like she should. Her long black hair is tangled, and her entire body has dirt smeared all over. She was wearing rags that barely qualified as a dress. She barely ate and hadn’t bathed once. She had hoped to collect the thing she had stashed away and maybe catch a glimpse of her friends one last time...

Before she faced  _ him _ .

They won’t be okay if she falters here. She focused on a small piece of rumble and lifted it into the air. Her vision blurred from the effort, she couldn’t tell if the rock was above the traitor’s head or not. She dropped it away. She knew it would at least hit them somewhere and that should create an opening—.

—Her forehead hit the ground with a nasty-sounding GA-THUNK and her vision blurred as her glasses were knocked off her face.

“We’ll be ready to start soon,” someone spoke up from above her, then ground her face deeper into the earth, “What would you like me to do about her.”

“Take her alive,” the traitor ordered the newcomer, “She can join the others in the game she so desperately tried to stop. A full wipe just to be safe...”

The traitor was rubbing their shoulder where her rock hit them. She didn’t realize that the two of them were in on it together. Now that she thought about it… of course they would be in on it together. She had just hoped that only one friend had betrayed her… not two.

“You really should thank me,” the traitor leaned in to whisper into her ear, “They would have ripped you apart.”

The traitor stepped back and their wolf released one of her arms to grab something. She lashed out but she suddenly couldn’t breathe. The wolf had released her other arm in favor of choking her.

There was a pinprick of pain in her neck as a foreign liquid was forced into her bloodstream. She could breathe again, but she could feel her memories and consciousness fade. She would remember nothing when she wakes up. Not even her own name.

“Upupupu…” the traitor laughed but suddenly stopped when they noticed it. Something was peeking out from between the collapsed girl’s bangs. They lifted up her bangs. They gasped, “A witch… A witch! And not just any witch but  _ her _ ! They won’t be interested in helping or staying hidden once she’s dead!”

A petite young lady slept with her face down on a desk in the middle of a classroom. Her long, black hair made it look as though a wild bush was top the desk rather than a head. Her arms were folded beneath her head as a makeshift pillow. Her body was completely relaxed, though it had tensed up as she prepared to wake.

“Mmph...five more minutes,” the girl muttered as she shifted her head, inadvertently letting light shine onto her closed eyelids. Try as she might, sleep eluded her, despite feeling like her body was made of lead.

She opened her eyes to see...colors. The walls were a gradient of yellow and orange. She was fairly certain there was metal mounted along one of the walls. What must be wooden desks were lined up in rows and columns around her. What she was positive was a chalkboard was mounted on the front wall. Try as she might, she could not make out any other detail.

_ Maybe I have glasses _ , she thought and glanced down at her desk. On that desk was some sort of white sheet of paper with blue and red squiggles on it. On top of that paper was a pair of transparent circles attached together with thick black material.  _ There they are _ the girl thought and gently placed them on her face.

It was disorienting, all the finer details suddenly coming into focus. The walls were covered in giraffe wallpaper. She could also see the ceiling-mounted security camera, the wall-mounted monitor, clock, and metal plates.

She glanced back down at her desk. The paper her glasses were on was folded like some sort of pamphlet. The outside said  _ Congrats on getting into Hope’s Peak Academy _ . She unfolded it to reveal a message scrawled in crayon:  _ Hey there Karasu Kanashimi! The next semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world. _

Karasu stared at the note in confusion. “That’s a very creepy way of saying ‘welcome to boarding school’,” she deadpanned. She patted her thighs, looking for pockets. Her right forearm brushed against leather.

Karasu glanced down to see a bag resting at her right hip. The strap reached across her torso to rest on her left shoulder. She opened it and was concerned when it was empty.  _ Shouldn’t I have a phone or wallet in there? _ Karasu thought.

She slipped the paper into her bag as she gave the room a once over. The metal plates that covered the window reminded her of a fence. It both keeps the wolves out and the sheep contained. And the wolves can see her.

She shuddered. But she could feel panic seeping in. She tried stating facts about herself. Her name is Karasu Kanashimi. She is… how old is she? Panic flooded in and she just… started breathing. She breathed in through her nose for a count of four, held her breath for seven, and blew air out through her mouth for a count of eight. She slipped into the pattern easily, like she had committed it not only to memory but into her body to the point it became instinctual. She repeated the pattern until she had calmed down.

She glanced briefly at the clock. It was 7:45. With the metal plates covering the windows, she had no way of knowing if it was morning or night.

_ Maybe I should go explore _ , Karasu thought, turned to the side, and rose to her feet. She knew she was in Hope’s Peak but she knew nothing about its layout. And… the school was quiet—too quiet. Shouldn’t she hear other students bustling to their next class? Shouldn’t she hear the muffled lectures of instructors teaching their students? She gingerly took her first step.

FLIP!

The sound cut through the silence like a warm knife through butter. Karasu startled. Badly. She jumped at least two feet into the air and was flapping her arms like she wanted to fly away. She nearly overbalanced and fell over but due to waving her arms around, she was able to regain her balance.

She looked down at her feet and flushed. She had been scared half to death…by a pair of crimson flip flops. As she looked down at her feet, she noticed two necklaces dangling from her neck. One ring hanging on a leather cord. The other was a large, white fang—possibly from a dinosaur—hanging on a larger leather cord. When she stood upright, the pendant hit her on her collarbone and the fang rested between her breasts.

She couldn’t explain why, but she had the funny feeling that the ring wasn’t something that would be wise to flaunt so she tucked into her dress. As she did so she noticed that she wore a fingerless glove on her left hand, and wore an armguard on her right. When she looked closer at the arm guard, it looked like it could conceal something long and thin within it and deploy it with a flick of the wrist. She flicked her wrist. Nothing happened.

She has wasted enough time lingering in this classroom; she left the room, closing the door behind her. She was in a dimly lit hallway that extended to the right. But to the left was a narrower hallway that led to “Despair Hotel”. Karasu decided to head down the narrow hallway since she would have an idea where she was going.

As she walked, she noticed that she swung both arms in perfect synchronization with each other. Karasu found this to be rather childish, but it appeared to have already become a habit. It took conscious effort to swing her arms like a normal human being.

She reached a gate. It was locked but the gaps were wide enough to stick her arm through. She tried to unlock it from the other side—there was no lock on her side so she couldn’t. The lock must be controlled electronically.

She peered between the bars and into the large room. It must have been some kind of lobby or common area since the entrance to the dining hall was to the right and the bathhouse to the left. However, the bathhouse entrance was blocked by caution tape reading:  _ Keep Out _ ! Near the bathhouse was another door with an awning above it but she couldn’t determine what the room was. Past the main room was another hallway running perpendicular to the lobby and another hallway that appeared to lead to dorms. She could see the nameplate on the dorm at the end. It had an image of a girl with long, wild dark hair with round spectacles. Underneath that image was her name: Karasu.

She was surprised and a bit proud that she could see something  _ that _ far away.

As she had explored the area to the fullest she could, she stepped away from the gate and turned back. When she reached the wider hallway, she noticed that there was a second classroom, 1-B, other than the one she woke up in. She walked over to it and tried to slide it open. The door rattled gently but didn’t budge.

She moved on and as she passed door 1-A, the room she woke up in, she just systematically checked the door.

RATTLE RATTLE.

It was locked. But it had been unlocked earlier.  _ She walked straight through that door earlier _ . She gripped the handle firmly and pulled with all her might. Her arms screamed in protest and she let go. The door rattled as she held her arms. Why were her arms so sore? Did she fight? Was she overwhelmed by her kidnapper?

With a huff of frustration, she kicked the door. The door was rattled but unharmed. Her toe throbbed. “This door isn’t going to open again is it?” Karasu wondered aloud.

There was no response.

Karasu dejectedly walked down the unexplored hallway, swinging her arms as she went. She arrived at an intersection, there was a cushioned red door dead ahead and to her right another hallway. She confidently strode towards that extravagant red door. However, as she approached, her gait became progressively more subdued and hesitant. The closer she got to the door, the stronger the aura of malice became. She wanted to be anywhere but in front of that door, but she had to check it.

RATTLE RATTLE.

She let out a sigh of relief and wasted no time retreating and rounding a corner into the remaining area she has yet to explore. Up ahead on the wall to her left, was a yellow door with a blue radio on it. The nearby sign declared that this was the A/V Room. That room was locked as well.

Karasu continued down the hallway until she came to a large area with an empty planter surrounded by benches. On the right was an orange arched double door with a large cross-section of a tree with the word “STORE” etched into it above the door. That door was locked too.

She ignored the pair of double doors that were opposite the school store that were wide open and obviously where her kidnapper intended for her to go and continued down the hallway. The next room she came across, the Nurse’s Office, was locked as well. Those sliding doors were pink with a light pink heart on each door. This door was covered in the same keep out tape she saw on the bathhouse.

She continued down the hallway, checking the bathrooms as she went—they were also locked. The hallway rounded another corner and in front of Karasu was a stairwell up, but it was blocked by a security gate. She tried to lift it but her arms protested.

She turned down the hallway to face the final door to check…the gym. She walked up to it and tried to turn the handle. It did not turn. With that, there was only one place left to check… the place that the kidnapper obviously wanted her to go.

She rushed over to the open double doors leading to the main hall. She stepped through. There were fourteen others waiting in that room. Each with different physiques, heights, styles, and attitudes.

“Ah, right on time!” a boy with short, spiky black hair, long eyebrows, and intense red eyes exclaimed. He wore some sort of white military-style school uniform with golden buttons on the cuffs, collar, and five up the middle of his chest. Above his left breast pocket sat a medal with some sort of symbol—perhaps a school chest?—on it. Around his right arm above his elbow, was a red, white, and black armband reading “Public Morals”. He also wore knee-high, lace-up black boots. He appeared to be around the same height Karasu was, perhaps an inch taller.

“On time for what?” Karasu asked and immediately regretted it. Nearly everyone was staring at her with an intense look in their eyes. It was the look you gave someone when they said something very  _ very _ stupid.

“This is the scheduled location to gather for the school tour!” the boy from earlier explained, “You arrived at 8 o’clock on the dot! I applaud your punctuality! But early is never late you know!”

“Oh, so I’m just a new student?” Karasu asked. She got some nods of confirmation and other…less polite confirmations. “That’s funny, I could have sworn I was kidnapped. I mean, what other reason would there be for waking up in a strange place with no recollection of how I got there?”

That earned her some looks of pity. Karasu pressed on. “I guess I gave them a little trouble—my arms are sore.”

“How strange,” a girl—Karasu thought she was a boy when she first heard her deep voice—with long white hair, tanned skin, very pale blue eyes, and an impressive amount of muscle murmured. She wore a school uniform just like what you would see in a school anime: a white shirt with a blue collar, a red tie, and a pleated short blue skirt. The sleeves of her uniform were torn off to make room for her muscles. Bandages were wrapped around her forearms and calves. She also wore red sweatbands on both wrists. On her feet, she wore a pair of some sort of white slippers. She was the tallest out of everyone here and was quite the imposing figure; she carried herself like a warrior.

“I feel no such soreness, perhaps I was taken by surprise?” the warrior mused.

The girl considered her for a moment before she walked up to her and began…poking Karasu. “What are you,” she winced as a finger probed her bicep, “doing?”

“Muscular quantity is right around that of an athletic high school student however it is toned and built for speed. However, the muscles in the arms are denser than the rest of the body. You may want to consider revising your workout for more uniform development,” the girl noted, “You have a bruise beginning to form around your neck.” Suddenly, Karasu knew that her name was Sakura Ogami.

Karasu wasn’t sure what to do with Sakura’s assessment. She didn’t work out…did she? And what did she…ow. Karasu had brought her hand up to her neck and accidentally put too much pressure on her bruise. But she also felt something else besides the necklaces with the ring or fang that was around her neck: a choker necklace.

As she waited for the kidnapper to contact her and the others in the room with her, she decided to investigate the room itself. There were some trophies displayed in built-in shelves along the left wall along with a monitor mounted on that wall. She also noted that there appeared to be some sort of ceiling-mounted turrets with cameras attached to them; she wasn’t particularly worried by them as she knew they couldn’t touch her. Both walls had electric, wall-mounted sconces lining both walls and two additional lights on either side of the main feature of the room: the large, round vault door. Karasu walked over to it and knocked on it.

_ BANG BANG! _

The vault had been made of some sort of grayish-blue metal and was very thick too, by the sound of it. She noticed a series of buttons near the handle of the vault just above her head. If she stood on her toes she should be able to reach them but she had no idea what they did so she decided it would be best to leave them alone.

On a desk pushed up against the right wall there was a mini organizer drawer unit that was completely empty. Near the desk and also pushed up against the wall was a display board. Karasu had plenty of time and not much else to do so she read it and even took the time to check the other side for anything (it was blank). She learned nothing of importance. 

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing from this room as she stared at the pillars and arch decal on the wall. Something that should have been there. Maybe there were originally pillars with that same arch decal that once lined the path to the rest of the school, most likely where the black tile on the floor intersected—they lined up with the pillars that lined the walls. They might have been removed when the vault was installed but she had no way of knowing since she couldn’t remember anything.

Karasu was about to ask Sakura about it when someone else spoke.

“Um…” a boyish voice said. Once Karasu made eye contact, she knew his name: Makoto Naegi.

Everyone else turned to look at the boy that stood at the entrance to the rest of the school, looking just as unsettled as everyone else. He has light brown spikey hair with a tuft that likes to defy gravity, dull brown eyes. He wore a dull green hoodie with red stripes along the zipper underneath an unbuttoned black blazer. There was a silver pin on the lapel that bore a symbol that matched the symbol on the golden buttons of his blazer. He also wore simple black jeans and red sneakers with white toes. He seemed to be at least five inches shorter than she was. He seemed to have decided that introducing himself was the best course of action, “How’s it going? My name is Makoto Naegi. Sorry, I’m late. A bunch of stuff happened, and then all of a sudden, I was just… asleep.”

“Whoa, you too?” the young man with tan skin and dark brown eyes, stubble, and dreadlocks exclaimed. His hair made him look a lot taller than he actually was; he was about four inches taller than Karasu. He wore three shirts: a yellow shirt with either short or mid-length sleeves, an open white button-down shirt, and a green jacket draped over his shoulders. He also wore some sort of black pants with a yellow rope used as a belt, wooden sandals, and a beaded bracelet with some sort of symbol on the beads on his left wrist. Their eyes met for a moment and Karasu knew that this was Yasuhiro Hagakure or Hiro for short.

“Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser,” a girl with a white lace bonnet with white ribbons, black hair in two large twin-drill pigtails, and an obvious love for gothic lolita mused aloud. She had pale skin, red eyes, and golden snitch-like earrings.  _ Golden Snitch? What’s a Golden Snitch??? _ Karasu wondered as she suppressed the urge to snatch them. The girl wore a white blouse, a white ribbon around her neck, a black jacket with lace on the cuffs, a red tie with a black decal on it, a wide layered black skirt with white lace, black knee-high stockings with white lace, and dark red high heels. She also had long black nails and many silver rings on her right pointer finger that were layered to look like a long claw. She was at least three inches shorter than Karasu was. Karasu knew her too—Celestia Ludenburg or Celeste—have they all met before? How else would she know these things? But she couldn’t remember anything...

“So strange… I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed!” declared a boy that reminded Karasu of a  _ very _ overweight hamster with short black hair that curled against his cheeks and on his forehead and a small ahoge. He had large hands and thin legs—so thin that Karasu was surprised that they could support him. He wore a white button-down shirt underneath an unbuttoned gray cardigan with a school chest on the sleeves near the shoulders, an orange backpack, dark grey pants, grey trainers, and an orange tie with a double-sided teal arrow on it. His name was Hifumi Yamada. Something about him automatically put Karasu on guard, but she had the feeling he was mostly harmless.

“Um...what are you talking about? I honestly have no idea what’s going on right now,” Makoto stated.

“Just a moment! There’s something else we must address! Makoto! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at 8 a.m. sharp! To be late on your first day is unspeakable! I must report you, and you must accept your due punishment!” the boy that applauded Karasu for her punctuality said. His name was Kiyotaka Ishimaru or Taka. If she knew his name, why didn’t she recognize them when they were talking earlier?

“What’s your problem? It’s not like he  _ wanted _ to be late. He didn’t have any control over it,” a girl with makeup on and strawberry blonde hair tied up in pigtails with a bow and a rabbit hair clip and said. She had an hourglass figure and wore a white dress shirt underneath a black cardigan—both of which had the top three buttons unfastened to expose the top of her bra and had the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. The cardigan also had a couple of pins near the hem on the right side and school symbols on the sleeves and lower left side. She also wore a white tie cover in a repeated pattern of some sort of black teddy bear face, a red pleated miniskirt, and a pair of mid-calf black platform heels with red laces. Her nails were painted red long, long enough that Karasu thought they were fake. She was about an inch shorter than Karasu. Karasu didn’t recognize this girl.

“Everyone just calm down! Listen, why don’t we all go around and introduce ourselves?” a girl with brown skin, blue eyes, and wears her brown hair in a ponytail that sticks straight up in the air shouted. She also had a hair clip resembling a paper clip holding some of her bangs out of her face. She wore a white tank top, a red tracksuit jacket with a white stripe and a school crest stamped onto the left chest, blue athletic mini shorts, green sneakers, knee-high white socks, a red knee brace on her right knee, and a bandage above her left knee. She was around 5 inches shorter than Karasu. Her name was Aoi Asahina or Hina.

“The hell!? Now’s no time for friggin’ introductions!” a muscular boy with slightly tanned skin and his brown hair styled into a pompadour roared. He wore a black overcoat with orange decal and a high collar worn open to reveal a white A-shirt, black baggy pants held up by a belt with some sort of lion on the belt buckle. He also wore white loafers. Mondo Owada looked to be about 6’2”.  _ What did he mean by introductions _ , Karasu wondered,  _ didn’t they all know each other? _

“Maybe, but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here. I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other’s names?” Celeste pointed out.

“That’s a good point,” a girl with light brown, layered hair, hazel eyes, and a lithe frame agreed. She almost looked like she was a doll. She wore a dark green jacket with buttons engraved with a school crest and a symbol on the sleeves near the shoulders over a white shirt with a Peter Pan collar fastened in place with a thin ribbon. She also wore a box-pleated, mid-mid thigh-length skirt that was held up by suspenders that were barely visible beneath her jacket. She also wore knee-high black socks with tan mary janes with ribbons. She was the shortest of all the students at around 4’10”. Her name was Chihiro Fujisaki.

“Okay, so let’s get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?” a girl with long dark blue hair, dark blue eyes, and makeup reasoned. Her name was Sayaka Maizono. Her outfit was similar to Sakura’s with white shirt with a blue collar and a blue pleated skirt. But instead of a red tie, Sayaka had a large pink bow, her skirt had a tartan pattern on it, and her shirt still had the sleeves. There was also a school crest on her collar and embroidered on her left sleeve. She also wore thigh-high black socks and brown mary janes.

And just like that, everyone began to mingle. Karasu skipped the people she already knew and started with a girl with long, braided, dark purple hair, a small mole on the left side of her chin, and large round wire-rimmed glasses—just like her’s. She wore a dark purple shirt with white cuffs and collar and a school crest on the sleeves near her shoulders, a red ribbon around the collar, white ankle socks, brown loafers, and a long pleated skirt that matched her shirt. Given her nervous mannerisms and long skirt, Karasu suspected that she had a very unhappy childhood. She was shorter than Karasu by about four inches. The girl introduced herself, “N-Not that you’ll remember my n-name anyway, but I’m Toko… Toko Fukawa.”

“My name is Karasu Kanashimi,” Karasu introduced herself, “We sort of match, don’t we?” Karasu smiled cheerfully. She was making a friend!

“N-No w-way I look l-like some,” Toko scanned her from head to toe with a look of rage, “s-some trashy s-skank!”

_ Huh? _

“Excuse me?” Karasu asked, utterly bewildered.

“Wh-What? D-Do y-you not understand? I-I’m not surprised. Th-There’s nothing in your head s-so you’ve got to let y-your body do the t-talking!” Toko scoffed.

Karasu felt a flash of anger, “Wow, insecure much? Just because you haven’t had a happy life doesn’t give you the right to lash out,” Karasu lowered her gaze to Toko’s thighs. Normal school skirts aren’t that long so there is something she wanted to hide… most likely self-inflicted marks.

Toko began to say something—no doubt to accuse her of being a pervert—when Karasu cut her off, “Making marks on your skin isn’t a healthy coping mechanism. Lashing out at people without good reason won’t help either.”

Karasu turned on her heels and marched over to the boy with spiky red hair, a red goatee, and icy blue eyes, leaving Toko wide-eyed, pale, and shaking in terror. 

“Yo! The name’s Leon Kuwata. What’s up?” the aforementioned boy chirped. He wore a white blazer jacket with a popped collar and with various metal pins—one was an oversized safety pin on the lepel—along the button free side of the jacket over a white shirt with a red skull design, a padlocked chain necklace, two overlapping studded belts, rings, dark blue jeans, and white platform shoes with black soles. He also had piercings in his tongue, labret, and six in his right ear. He was about an inch taller than her. Karasu introduced herself and moved on after a few awkward but harmless flirts to the next student.

She was a couple of inches shorter than Karasu and had silver hair with a stand of it braided and held by a black ribbon, pale skin, and purple eyes. She wore a dark purple collared blazer jacket over a long-sleeved white blouse, a brown tie with a blackbird decal, a short black pleated skirt, knee-high light purple sock under knee-high purple boots. She also wore black studded gloves. It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed Karasu…it seemed like she was ignoring her? No, Kyoko had other things on her mind—so many questions she  _ needed _ to answer.

“Karasu Kanashimi. And you are?”

“…My name is…Kyoko Kirigiri…” Kyoko stated as if she wasn’t sure herself.  _ Is she having trouble remembering too? _ Karasu wondered.

“Are you having trouble remembering too?” Karasu asked. When she looked deeper, everything was… well, if Karasu had to describe it, it was like looking for treasure buried underneath clear glass marbles. You could see through them so you knew something was there but you just couldn’t make it out. She left things as they were; she had a funny feeling that if she wasn’t careful, she would really hurt Kyoko.

Kyoko glared at Karasu, “That… is none of your concern.”

Karasu smiled cheerfully, “Don’t worry, they’re still there, I’m sure we’ll start to remember things soon enough!”

Kyoko stared at her in confusion as she moved on with her introductions. She walked up to the girl with strawberry blonde hair…she wouldn’t even look at her. She seemed… tense.

Karasu gave her the politest greeting she possibly could.

“Hiii! I’m Junko Enoshima. Charmed I’m sure!” she chirped but it seemed forced. Junko still hadn’t looked at Karasu.  _ She must be on edge given our situation… _ Karasu thought. She introduced herself briefly and then walked over to the next person and stopped before she reached them.

He carried himself like everyone was beneath him. Karasu just knew that she wasn’t going to like this boy. The fact that he was about five inches taller than her and the fact that she had to look up at him irked her. He had unusually long legs, like an ostrich but he didn’t seem to be the type to bury his head in the sand. He had pale skin, blue eyes, and chin-length dirty blonde hair. He wore a white button-up skirt under a black suit jacket, a pair of matching black dress pants, a green crossover tie, black dress shoes, and a pair of rectangular white-rimmed glasses. His suit jacket had a school pin on his left lepel and a chain fastened to the right lepel that led to his right pocket—most likely a pocket watch chain.

She must have been making a funny face, because he leveled his displeased gaze and demanded in the most condescending tone, “Get on with it. You’re wasting my time. And I hate wasting time.”

Karasu walked away without saying anything. If Byakuya—Heir to the Togami Corporation—wanted to know her name, he could come ask her. She could hear him scoff behind her, but he made no motion to stop her.

Taka, on the other hand, wasn’t so happy.

“What are you doing!? Aren’t you going to introduce yourself!?” Taka yelled. Byakuya smirked slightly, amused. It really pissed Karasu off and for some reason, the words “My father will hear about this!” flashed through her mind.

Karasu leveled a steely glare at him, “If Byakuya wants to know my name, all he has to do is ask,” she paused, “Nice to meet you, Taka.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Taka enthusiastically returned the greeting. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at her in…suspicion? And Karasu could feel at least two other pairs of eyes on her as well. She didn’t see why they would be suspicious of her; she’s done nothing wrong.

As Karasu knew everyone’s name now, so she stood near the entrance to the school hallways. Oddly, Sakura, Hifumi, Hina, Mondo, Sayaka, Taka, Chihiro, and Makoto introduced themselves to her again. Hadn’t they met before?

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Chihiro Fujisaki…Sorry, I get kinda embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this. Anyway, I hope we can get along.” Chihiro introduced herself and Karasu offered her name, “...Huh? Maybe it’s just my imagination, but… have we met before?”

“I’m not the only one?” Karasu asked hopefully, “I’m glad, I thought I was going insane. Nice to see you again.”

“You as well,” Chihiro replied, her expression an odd mix of relieved and confused. Chihiro moved on to introduce herself to Mondo and Makoto walked up to her.

“Um…what is your name?” Makoto asked politely.

Karasu was getting a bit annoyed at this point, but Makoto was polite. The least she could do was be polite in turn, “Karasu Kanashimi.”

There was an awkward pause. Makoto seemed to be expecting her to say more.  _ He wants to know my Ultimate Talent? What is my talent, anyway? His talent is… Luck? How is that a talent?  _ Karasu wondered,  _ I can’t believe he actually stayed up late looking us up on the Hope’s Peak Forum _ … _ So Sayaka is the Ultimate Pop Sensation, Leon is the Ultimate Baseball Star, Junko is the Ultimate Fashionista, Mondo: Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Sakura: Ultimate Martial Artist (Orge is such a mean nickname), Hifumi: Ultimate Fanfic Creator, Celeste: Ultimate Gambler, Hina: Ultimate Swimming Pro, Chihiro: Ultimate Programmer, Hiro: Ultimate Clairvoyant, Taka: Ultimate Moral Compass, Toko: Ultimate Writing Prodigy, and Byakuya: Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Kyoko wasn’t anywhere on that forum… And neither was she… What is her talent? _

Karasu furrowed her brows in concentration as she tried to remember. She came up empty-handed.  _ Wait… we weren’t talking earlier… I heard his voice but his mouth didn’t move… Is this related to my talent? _

Makoto opened his mouth to ask but Karasu cut in, “That’s for me to know and you to find out. Care to take a guess?”

Makoto jerked back,  _ “Another one!?” _

“Another what?” Karasu asked, tilting her head.

Makoto seemed genuinely horrified but managed to stutter out, “…U-Ultimate P-Psychic.”

“Hmm…” Karasu hummed, “Maybe, Mr. Lucky!”

Makoto was taken aback by her response but asked, “It’s just intuition… right?”

She shrugged. Makoto’s lips didn’t move but she heard him say, “ _ Just like Sayaka… but she doesn’t seem to be kidding… _ ”

“I guess that means Sayaka and I have something to talk about later, hmm?” Karasu said.

At that, Makoto seemed to dissociate and mouthed the words:  _ what have I done? _

“Alright… talk to you later!” Karasu chirped and walked over to the rest of the students. It looked like they were nearly done with their introductions. She considered this venture a success; she knew that she would like to get to know Makoto, Sayaka, and Kyoko better.

“Okay, time to get down to business,” Byakuya began then snarked, “This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons.”

“Oh, that’s true. I think someone said something about a bigger problem or something? What was that about?” Makoto asked.

“Well, you see… Makoto, you said a bunch of stuff happened and then you were  _just asleep_ , right? Well... the same is true for all of us.” Sayaka explained hesitantly.

“Yeah, right in the middle of a classroom too, sitting at a desk,” Karasu agreed.

“I didn’t wake up at a desk! I woke up on the floor!” Hifumi complained. Everyone glanced at him for a moment. He was ignored.

“What? Seriously!?” Makoto exclaimed.

“Just after each of us got to the main hall, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in the school! That’s what happened to you, right?" Leon added.

“If I had passed out in the Main Hall… I would expect that I would wake in the Nurse’s Office… but it’s locked… Actually, everything is locked," Karasu said, “There is this sign at one side of the building that says,  _ ‘Despair Hotel _ ’ and on the other side of the gate there are dorm rooms, a bathhouse, a dining hall, and some other room I couldn’t figure out what it was.”

Everyone stared at Karasu then Taka yelled, “You didn’t come straight here!?”

“No… why would I? I wake up in a strange situation and I’m  _ not _ allowed to investigate? Besides I wasn’t late,” Karasu pointed out what she thought was blatantly obvious. Taka didn’t seem to have a counterargument. Kyoko had a small smile of approval on her face.

“B-But that’s just...weird! That every one of us would get knocked out like that…” Makoto said anxiously.

“Exactly!” Mondo agreed, “That’s why we’re all freakin’ out!”

“And that’s not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right? But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates! What’s that about!?” Taka exclaimed loudly.

“Why plates though?” Karasu murmured almost voicelessly.  _ Iron bars would be just as effective and cheaper _ Karasu thought but didn’t get the chance to voice her thoughts as the conversation had moved on without her.

“Plus, all my stuff’s missing! Even my cell phone...” Junko whined.

“Yeah, you’re right. I haven’t seen my PDA anywhere, either...” Chihiro confirmed that she, too, was missing personal items.

“And then there’s the main hall here. The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch. But there wasn’t anything like that when I first got here…! What the heck! What’s it doing there!?” Taka continued.

“Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know...crime or something?” Junko reasoned.  _ Didn’t I mention that earlier? _ Karasu thought, bemused.

“What, like…a kidnapping? You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we’re not actually at school?” Leon explained his thought process.

“Come on, don’t think like that. Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school’s orientation procedure. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it! So, I’m just gonna take it easy for a little bit.” Hiro relaxed.  _ It can’t be that simple, can it? _ Karasu wondered.

“Oh… So, you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?” Chihiro began to calm down as well.

“Huh. Well if that’s all it is, it’s nap time for me. I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye,” Leon chirped happily.  _ It’s way too soon to let your guard down! _ Karasu’s instincts screamed of danger. But everyone was relaxing.

“It’s too soon to—,” Karasu began, panicking.  _ I can’t watch them die… not like Cedric! _ Karasu thought. She paused.  _ Who’s Cedric?  _ She wondered.

But before she could continue her statement,  _ it began _ .

_ Ding dong, bing bong! _

The monitors flickered to life and a silhouette appeared in the static. A playful voice spoke through the speakers, “Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then…!”

Karasu didn’t like how the voice—the kidnapper’s voice—sounded so unconcerned yet so playful. It reminded her of the type of…  _ thing _ who’d laugh at the scene of a murder… at a job well done.

“Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at...right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience… That’s all. I’ll be waiting!” The kidnapper cut the connection.

Junko seemed to struggle for words for a moment, “...What. The. Hell was that just now?”

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me...” Byakuya said as he began to walk out of the Main Hall. Karasu grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Behind me,” she ordered and before he could argue, she addressed everyone else. “We are going to head to the gym as one group. Who here has combat experience?”

Sakura and Mondo confirmed that they could fight. Junko’s hand twitched.

“Sakura, you’re in the back. Watch our back. Mondo, up front with me. Everyone else, stay in the middle.” Karasu ordered and the others began to fall in line with little to no complaint. She was vaguely aware that Byakuya was trying to free himself from her grasp; she released him, and he too fell in line, grumbling. It seemed he found no reason to protest.

“You’re taking this a bit too seriously, don’tcha think?” Hiro chirped.

Karasu ignored him and peered around the hallway. She waved them forward and headed to the gym. Once she got to the bend in the hallway, she quickly glanced at the stairwell before she peered around the corner to the gym entrance. All clear. She walked up to the door and peered through the windows. Besides the golden sword, nothing caught her eye. She opened the door and held it open for everyone to file in. She closed it behind Sakura.

When she turned back to head back to the front… someone had already opened the door and walked in. Everyone but Makoto, Sayaka, Kyoko, Mondo, Taka, Junko, Sakura, Hifumi, and Karasu herself were left.

“God, I had no idea this Hope’s Peak Academy place was gonna be such a pain in my balls. It really ain’t that much different from the time I spent in juvie. Hell, this place is even worse!” Mondo groused.

“This…This doesn’t seem right…why isn’t anyone else here? Walking through the halls, I didn’t see anyone else…” Sayaka said anxiously.

“I didn’t see anyone either…and that announcement was totally creepy,” Junko added, “Isn’t this like, seriously not good?”

“Th-They’re just trying to spook us! They’ll take those metal plates down later, I’m sure of it,” Taka tried to rationalize.

All we can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Sakura wisely said.

“Well hell, it ain’t like I’m scared or nothin’. Let’s just get this over with! Hey! Where’s whoever called us here!?” Mondo charged into the gym, full-speed.

“Mondo, stop! No, running!” Taka ran after Mondo.

“I too shall go,” Sakura followed.

“H-Hey, wait! Don’t leave me here all alone!” Hifumi squealed like a pig and ran into the gym.

“They didn’t even wait for me to check if it was safe…” Karasu mumbled and followed after she did a brief survey of the gym, waving half-heartedly for the others to follow. After a minute or two, Kyoko, Makoto, Junko, and Sayaka entered the gym.

“Oh. It really does look like an entrance ceremony,” Makoto observed. It did. Red and white vertically striped banners hung from the ceiling. There was a long red carpet leading to another carpet with a couple rows of foldable chairs before a stage. On the stage was a podium. To the left of the podium was a small bonsai tree on a stand and to the right was what must be the school flag.

“See? Told ya! It’s totally normal entrance ceremony stuff,” Hiro smiled, “You totally overreacted Karasu!”

Karasu ignored him and continued doing what she was doing, surveying the room for any threat.

“Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let’s get things rolling!” the kidnapper’s voice flowed from…somewhere. Suddenly, a half-white-half-black bear with a red eye on its black side appeared atop the podium.

“Huh? A... teddy bear?” Chihiro asked.

“I’m not a teddy bear! I... am... Monokuma! And I am this school’s headmaster!” the kidnapper—now Monokuma—declared.

_ Calling this strange is a huge understatement… _ Karasu thought.

“Nice to meet you all!” Monokuma said without a care in the world, without any regard for their current predicament.

“Wh--? Waaaaaah! That teddy bear can talk!” Hifumi screamed in fright.

“Calm down! I’m sure there’s just a speaker inside it,” Taka tried to console Hifumi.

“I told you already, I’m not a teddy bear… I’m Monokuma! And I’m your headmaster!” Monokuma said as he threw his arms in the air as if in exasperation.

“Waaaaaah! It moved!” Hifumi shrieked.

“Seriously man, calm down! It’s prolly just a remote-control toy or somethin’,” Mondo scolded Hifumi.

“How dare you compare me to a child’s plaything! You’ve cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench…” the bear moped, “My remote-control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can’t recreate or even comprehend it! Ah, but don’t make me say stuff that might destroy NASA’s dreams. I just couldn’t BEAR that!”

“ _ Bear _ that? Really? You are...unfortunate,” Celeste declared.

“Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started...” Monokuma attempted to begin what must have been a speech of sorts.

“Giving up already? No other stupid bear puns?” Junko asked mockingly.

“Quiet down now, quiet down. Ah, okay, so…!” Monokuma began again.

“He has abandoned the gag...” Sakura noted.

“Some things  _ should _ be abandoned,” Karasu commented idly.

“Everyone stand at attention and bow! And... good morning!” Monokuma declared and did a little bow himself—as far he could without falling over.

To Karasu’s disbelief, Taka did a perfect ninety-degree bow with an enthusiastic, “Good morning!!!”

“Y-You don’t have to s-say it back…” Toko commented.

“Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let’s talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake--you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope...you will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school. Ah, now then...regarding the end date for this communal life...There isn't one! In other words, you’ll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you’ve been assigned,” Monokuma explained.

_ Until I die… _ Karasu nearly shouted in surprise.

“Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die…?” Toko stuttered.

“Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won’t lack for all the common conveniences,” Monokuma said as if that would ease their concerns.

“That’s the least of our worries right now!” Sayaka said worriedly.

“Yeah, what the hell? You’re saying I have to live here forever? You’re screwing with us, right?” Junko demanded.

“I am not screwing with you! I am no liar; of that, you can be 100% sure. Ah, and just for your information… you’re completely cut off from the outside world. So, you don’t have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!” Monokuma declared.

“Cut off? So, all those metal plates all over the school...They’re there to keep us trapped in here?” Makoto asked.

_ Could be a power move? _ Karasu thought, thinking about the pros and cons of iron bars and iron plates over windows.

“That's exactly what they’re there for. No matter how much you yell and scream for help… help will not come. So, with all that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!” Monokuma yelled enthusiastically.

“Come on, what the hell is this? I don’t care if the school or whatever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke,” Leon complained.

“Yeah! Cut this shit out! It isn’t funny anymore!” Mondo demanded angrily.

“You keep saying this is a lie or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you. But I guess you can’t help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor… Well, you’ll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you’ll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth,” Monokuma said.

“Having to live here forever would be...quite the problem,” Celeste stated.

“Come, now. What’s the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope’s Peak Academy, didn’t you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you’ve already decided you want to leave? Oh, but you know… I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There is one way for you to leave the school...” Monokuma trailed off.

“R-Really…?” Toko asked, hopeful.

“As headmaster, I’ve crafted a special clause for those of you who like to leave! I call it...the Graduation Clause! Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!” Monokuma explained cheerfully.

“What do you mean by ‘ _ disrupt the harmony’ _ ?” Byakuya and Karasu demanded, calmly and angrily respectively.

“Puhuhu… Well, you know… If one person were to murder another,” Monokuma elaborated with a disturbing look of anticipation on his face.

“M-Murder!?” Makoto exclaimed in alarm.

“Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn’t matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It’s as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible,” Monokuma said, then added as an afterthought, “Hell, use some magic if ya really want to!”

Anger flooded Karasu’s veins,  _ how dare he!? _ Karasu nearly screamed in rage, but now was not the time to act out. Now was the time to gather information and work with the others to escape. She had so many questions… she opened her mouth to ask but a familiar voice cut through her thoughts.

_ “Don’t ask questions.” _

_ A memory?  _ Karasu wondered, then concentrated on that voice, her eyebrows furrowed. She wouldn’t remember anything. But if she didn’t ask questions, how would she learn anything… 

...It would be better to avoid asking questions than risk punishment...

“Puhuhu. I bet that got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know… Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair. And I just find that so...darn...exciting!” Monokuma shrieked like an excited schoolgirl.

“What the hell are you talking about!? To kill each other is...It’s…!” Leon tried and failed to express how he was feeling. Anxious. Scared. Denial.

“To kill each other is to kill each other. I’m sure there’s a dictionary here somewhere if you need it,” Monokuma stated “helpfully”.

“We know what it means, that’s not the problem! Why do we have to kill each other!?” Hina demanded in righteous anger.

“Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!” Hifumi added.

“...Blabbering? Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don’t get it, do you? “Let us go, let us go!” You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over…!” Monokuma ranted, “Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it? And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So, go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!”

“Alright, come on… How long you gonna keep this up?” Hiro asked curiously.

“Eh?” Monokuma made a sound of confusion.

“You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us. So, you can go ahead and reveal the trick now,” Hiro elaborated.

“Reveal the trick…?” Monokuma asked, confused.

“Yeah, cuz I mean...Y’know, this is all some kinda trick and all right? So uh, like...” Hiro tried to explain what could only be idiocy and denial.

“Dude shut the hell up and get outta my way,” Mondo pushed Hiro aside and stood in front of Monokuma.

Shoving Hiro aside, Mondo placed himself in front of Monokuma, his voice rumbling like thunder.

“Listen up, asshole! This shit’s gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke IS this!?” Mondo demanded angrily.

“Joke? What, you mean like your hair?” Monokuma said mockingly.

“FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU--!” Mondo screamed in rage, lunged at the bear, and lifted him into the air, “Gotcha, you little piece of shit! I dunno if you’re a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I’m gonna rip you to fuckin’ shreds!”

“Waah! Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!” Monokuma exclaimed in alarm.

“Shut the fuck up! Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ...” Mondo was on the warpath. Then the bear started beeping.

“What, no smartass comeback this time!?” Mondo said dangerously. The beeping sped up.

Karasu realized with a start that Monokuma wasn’t just a figurehead. He was equipped to deal with anyone who broke his rules… lethally. Rules that they do not yet know.

“B-Bomb!!!” Karasu screamed.

“What!?” Mondo yelled in alarm as the others expressed alarm and scrambled away or just power-walked away from the offending object.

“Get rid of it!” Kyoko demanded. Monokuma beeped faster.

“Huh…?” Mondo grunted in confusion. It seemed he didn’t know how to best go about getting rid of the bear turned bomb. The beeping grew faster as detonation grew ever closer.

“Hurry up and throw it!” Kyoko ordered with startling ferocity. The beeping grew faster. It would detonate soon.

Mondo, stunned into compliance, threw the bear. Not long after he did, it exploded. Shrapnel rained down and the scent of gunpowder lingered in the air.

“The hell!? Th-That sure as shit wasn’t a joke. It blew the hell up...” Mondo ranted angrily at his close encounter with death.  _ He’ll be fine… _ Karasu thought, oddly proud of him.

“But you know… This means that the teddy bear’s been destroyed, right?” Chihiro pointed out hopefully.

“I told you, I’m not a teddy bear! I’m Monokuma!” Monokuma announced himself as everyone gathered in the middle of the gym again.

“Uwah!” Leon cried out in alarm, “There’s another one…?”

“You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!” Mondo yelled.

“Over a regulation, we’ve never heard of before!” Karasu screamed, enraged.

“Well, yes. I was seriously trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but you’d better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won’t get off with just a little swat on the butt,” Monokuma grumbled then addressed Karasu, “That’s why he’s getting off with the only verbal warning. This will be the only verbal warning I’ll give ya. It should suffice.”

Karasu nodded, “I only speak for myself, but yes, I understand.”

“H-Hey… So, does this mean there’s like, a bunch more of you around somewhere?” Junko asked fearfully.

“Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don’t forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you’re caught breaking any rules, well…” Monokuma trailed off, “You all just saw what happened, right? Puhuhu...And I won’t be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So, don’t let it happen again!”

“Th-That’s not even punishment. That’s just...wrong...” Hina complained.

“Now then, lastly… To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you… This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it’s fully digital.” Monokuma paused as if to dramatically reveal the universe’s punchline, “So naturally, we call it… The e-Handbook!”

“That’s so stupid,” Karasu deadpanned. She slipped the  _ e-Handbook _ into her bag; she’d look at it later.

“Ahem. Yes, well, moving on… This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don’t lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one! Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! Also, it’s completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it’ll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly! You’ll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated. Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws. The same thing applies here! Which is why it’s crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators. Okay, well… that brings our entrance ceremony to a close! Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And... see ya!” Monokuma finished his orientation with a look of pride on his face. Then, he vanished.

“So, guys… How would you define what we just experienced?” Taka asked anxiously.

“How…? Why…? I don’t understand any of this...” Leon uttered, shocked.

“We have to l-live here forever…? Or...k-kill? Wh-What…? What just happened!?” Toko stuttered.

“Everyone, we need to just calm down. First, let’s just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a “communal life” together until the day we die. And the other choice is...” Kyoko stated calmly, she was everyone’s anchor. She was keeping everyone from running around in a panic.

Karasu realized at that moment her mistake. She needlessly caused the others to worry when they needed to be calm but alert. How was she supposed to explain that without explaining how she came to that conclusion? This was the sort of thing you learn through trial… and narrowly avoiding death. Karasu held her arm and looked at the ground, frustrated.

“If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?” Celeste finished.

“But...killing someone… That’s…” Chihiro began to cry.

“We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we’re supposed to start killing each other? This is...This is… this is just…! What IS this!?” Hifumi squealed in panic.

“A lie is what it is. All these ridiculous things we’ve heard… This all has to be fake!” Taka exclaimed in denial.

“Right now, it doesn’t really matter if it’s real or fake. What matters is…Is there anyone here who’s seriously considering all this…?” Byakuya asked.

Karasu couldn’t help it, she glanced at all of her classmates. They did the same. The tension in the air was so thick it could have stopped a bullet dead in its tracks. The fear of betrayal. She could feel their hostility. She could hear their thoughts. They have to have been thoughts—their lips weren’t moving at all. She could hear their worries whenever they made eye contact. Makoto was wondering if someone was going to betray them. Byakuya had decided that this game was interesting. Celeste was plotting how to take some control of the situation. Kyoko was trying to puzzle out Monokuma’s motive. She had no idea what Junko was thinking. She heard a lot of anxious, worried thoughts. 

If the bear was to be believed, then he would not harm them for no reason. If that was true, then her biggest concern right now was… someone attempting to graduate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I feel like this time around the story is going to be a lot stronger. I even started dropping hints as to major endgame plot points earlier so that the ending isn’t just a giant info bomb. I changed some details about the story as well and that’s why Karasu is acting differently than the original story. The next chapter will come out when it's ready and not a second sooner. This chapter turned out to be quite a bit longer than intended, but I decided that while all of you probably know the Danganronpa story front to back… Karasu doesn’t. So I will write how Karasu experiences it.
> 
> Don’t forget to leave a kudo and comment if you have the time!
> 
> Edit: Minor edits for consistency with future chapters. May be minor changes to the layout as I relearn how to use AO3.


	2. The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a non-profit work and I do not own Harry Potter or Danganronpa. They belong to their respective owners. Also, I am expecting my readers to already be familiar with both fandoms. If you have not seen the books, movies, games, etc. in its entirety, this is your spoiler warning.

Karasu Kanashimi

Chapter 1 Part 1

* * *

“You must kill someone if you want to leave.” Those were Monokuma’s parting words. Karasu has seen the effect these words have on the others. Despite the fear and hostility, she didn’t feel panicked. She didn’t remember the outside world, so this school was all she knew. She didn’t feel the need to leave. She knew that the others wanted out, but she knew they wouldn’t be able to kill her easily. She had this funny feeling that many people have tried and failed to kill her. So why should she be worried about a bunch of teenagers?

Besides… There are far worse fates than death.

A voice cut through the silence.

“So? What are you going to do now? Just stand around glaring at each other?” Kyoko asked pointedly. Her voice pulled everyone out of their own head and back to reality.

“R-Right… She’s right! Sometimes, even if you’re nervous or afraid, you just have to step forward! To forget such a simple fact… I can’t forgive myself,” Taka exclaimed, “I’m so ashamed! Please, someone hit me! I can’t forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!”

She wasn’t sure what came over her at that moment but she said with an intensity she was unaware she possessed, “You are not to ask for punishment or punish yourself.”

“R-Right!” Taka agreed immediately.

“Jesus,” Mondo cursed, “If you have yell about it, you have time to DO something about it.”

“Perhaps, but...what is the mission, exactly?” Hifumi asked.

“Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!” Leon shouted.

“And we totally need to find whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of ‘em,” Junko growled angrily.

“B-But before we do all that, maybe we should take a look at the handbook…” Chihiro timidly started, “It’s probably best to check out the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else.”

“True,” Celeste agreed, “If we stumble around with no clue what the rules are, something like that might happen again…”

Karasu tuned out the others and pulled her e-handbook from her purse. The back of the device was silver engraved with the Hope’s Peak Logo and had a camera at the top center of it. When she pressed the power button, the screen lit up then displayed her name—just as Monokuma said. Then the main menu appeared. There were several apps on it: the Map, a disabled app called “Truth Bullets”, the Presents, the Report Cards, the Regulations, and the System.

Karasu knew that she was supposed to be reading the school regulations but she really wanted to know what the other apps did. Her curiosity got the best of her; she selected the Map. 

She already had a pretty good idea of the layout of the school and the dorms already but there were a few areas in the “Despair Hotel” that she hadn’t been able to see when she peered through the bars. In addition to the dorm rooms, Dining Hall, and Bathhouse there was a Dressing Room, Sauna, Laundry Room, Warehouse, Kitchen, Trash Room, a boys and girls bathroom, and a stairwell to the second floor of the dorms. Another thing that was interesting about the map was that the first level was broken up into three sections: Dormitory 1st floor, Hope’s Peak 1st Floor, and Gym 1st Floor. The map also showed where the stairwells were but didn’t show the layout for any other floor. _Would they become available later?_ Karasu wondered.

Having looked through the Map, Karasu skipped the “Truth Bullets” app since she couldn’t open it and moved on to the Presents. There wasn’t much to see; Only a list of “??????” and one entry of something called the “School Crest”. She didn’t really understand what this app was for so she moved on to the Report Cards.

Unlike the Presents, the Report Cards were pretty straightforward. It was a list of their profiles. Each profile contained their name, height, weight, chest size, and their talent. She skimmed through the profiles: Makoto’s profile was listed first—why wasn’t it alphabetical?—, Kyoko’s profile didn’t list her talent, and Karasu’s profile was listed last. Her name was Karasu Kanashimi and she was 5’ 8”, 100 pounds, and her chest size was 31 inches, and her talent was Ultimate ???. _Why isn’t my talent listed in there? Kyoko’s wasn’t either… Is it because we don’t remember?_ Karasu wondered. She was also mildly concerned that she weighed only 10 more pounds than Chihiro despite being fourteen inches taller. _That can’t be healthy…_

Another thing that bothered her was her profile picture. It looked normal at first glance… but Karasu has been studying it for a bit now—she doesn’t remember what her face looks like—and there was something missing that should be there. Shadows. Her hair and glasses don’t cast shadows onto her face or shoulders.

As much as her picture and weight bothered her, dwelling on it would solve nothing. She backed out of the Report Cards and moved onto the Regulations. The regulations were as follows:

  1. Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.
  2. “Nighttime” is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
  3. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.
  4. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope’s Peak Academy at your discretion.
  5. Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.
  6. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes “blackened” will graduate, unless they are discovered.
  7. Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.



Karasu looked up after she finished reading and glanced around. There were a few others that appeared to still be in the middle of reading the regulations. _Perhaps they were thinking of ways to get around the rules?_ Karasu pondered, _These regulations aren’t well thought out on Monokuma’s part… I mean, there’s a major loophole in the first regulation!_ Karasu also wondered what would happen if Monokuma was the one who violated the regulations. There would be plenty of time to analyze the rules later, so Karasu hit the System button. It was what she expected: customize the UI, shut down the handbook, restart the handbook, enable airplane mode, etc. It appeared that the handbook has been set up to automatically save new changes.

She was fiddling with the UI colors (she really _really_ liked the red and gold color scheme) when Mondo yelled, “This is bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I’m not gonna let them control ME!”

“Well then, why don’t you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens?” Celeste said pleasantly, “Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules.”

“But if he got punished like what we saw before, I don’t think there’d be a respawn waiting for him…” Hifumi added nervously.

“...I...Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head...When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him,” Mondo stated blandly.

“...So what?” Junko asked.

“I’ve made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, that’s “so what”! So I can’t afford to die in here!” Mondo yelled.

“None of that made much sense to me, but you are saying you will follow the regulations, is that it?” Celeste asked.

“Huh? Oh, well… yeah, I guess you’re right,” Mondo agreed.

“Hey, um… I have a question. For regulation number six...what do you think it means exactly?” Sayaka asked hesitantly.

“You’re talking about the second half, right? Where it says “unless they are discovered”? I was wondering about that myself,” Makoto admitted.

“It’s saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you,” Byakuya summarized.

B-But why…? Why do we h-have to do that?” Toko asked.

“I don’t see any reason to worry about it. Just worry about the rules as they’ve been explained to us. Frankly, I don’t want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them.” Byakuya stated coldly. Karasu realized then and there that despite his willingness to play the game, he wasn’t going to make the first move. He wanted someone else to make that first move, so he could get a better idea of the risks involved.

“D-Don’t jab at me…” Toko protested, blushing profusely.

“More like a full-on stab…” Leon commented.

Karasu had a question about the rules herself. But how was she supposed to phrase it without causing alarm? “What’s stopping… I mean… It’s clear that… Um… Ah… Nevermind… It’s nothing,” Karasu fell silent, rubbing her wrist nervously. It wasn’t that big of a deal. No one else seemed to have noticed the biggest flaw in the rules...if no one realized it then no one could take advantage of it. With the way Monokuma phrased Regulation 6, it sounded like there would be some sort of system in place to determine whether or not the blackened successfully got away with murder. If the blackened simply killed everyone else, then they win by default.

“That certainly doesn’t sound like nothing,” Celeste said conversationally as she twisted a strand of hair seemingly absentmindedly.

“Well, it’s nothing now, but if someone decides to…” Karasu trailed off, “it’s probably best I don’t say it, right? So they don’t get ideas.”

“Who gets ideas?” Makoto asked. Karasu knew instantly that the others wouldn’t let this slip by either.

She sighed, “Well… a potential blackened…” Karasu really didn’t want to say anymore, but she pushed on, “As things stand right now… there is no regulation stopping them from graduating by default.”

“Graduate… by default?” Hifumi asked.

“She means that one blackened could simply kill everyone else and walk out of here scot-free,” Byakuya elaborated with a scowl on his face.

Monokuma reappeared suddenly, “Hold on, hold on. If that’s your worry, you don’t gotta worry any longer! In any one killing game, the guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people ** _._** Karasu heard every handbook chime mere moments after that announcement.

“Why not limit it to _one_ person?” Sakura asked.

“Well, in a good mystery, you don’t want to miss out on at least the _potential_ of a serial killer angle! Nyoohohoho! Just one would totally murder that possibility!” the bear gave a sadistic grin before he ran off to wherever he goes when not in use.

“Interesting…” Byakuya said as his scowl turned into a cruel smile. 

Karasu wasn’t so sure that the issue was fully resolved. Everyone could kill two people each but that theoretically won’t stop a free-for-all… There were sixteen of them and if eight of them were murdered then eight would remain… but what if 

Hina exclaimed, “Well, for now, let’s forget all that silly junk about murders or whatever. Now that we know the rules, let’s start exploring the school!”

“True. We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? What about food and supplies? There are tons of questions we need to answer!” Taka announced.

“Damn straight! Okay, then let’s all start looking around!” Leon yelled.

“There should be food in the dining hall and medical supplies in the nurse's office. But everything was locked when I checked earlier...” Karasu trailed off.

Byakuya scowled, ”I’ll be going alone.”

“What!? Why? That’s a pretty stupid idea, don’t you think?” Junko demanded,

“Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us. Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?” Byakuya asked cynically.

“W-Wait, hold on a second. That would never—!” Sayaka began but was cut off by Byakuya.

“Don’t bother saying it couldn’t happen. You can’t deny the possibility. That’s why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong?”

“B-But…” Sayaka protested then fell silent.

“So, I’m simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me,” Byakuya stated coldly and began walking out of the gym.

“Hold on! Like hell I’m gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!” Mondo ran and cut in front of Byakuya.

“Out of my way, plankton,” Byakuya insulted Mondo.

“Wh—!? The fuck’s that supposed to mean!?” Mondo demanded angrily.

“One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So minuscule, so insignificant, they couldn’t possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.” Byakuya said mockingly.

“I’m gonna kick your ass!” Mondo screamed in rage.

“S-Stop it! We shouldn’t fight!” Makoto jumped in, trying to ward off conflict. Like a bull noticing a red cloth, Mondo changed targets, “The fuck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody little bitch? Who do you think you are, talkin’ to me like that? You think you’re my fuckin’ dad or something!?”

“N-No, I wasn’t—!” Makoto stammered nervously.

Fuck you!” Mondo screamed in rage and drew back his fist and threw a punch. Karasu didn’t think. She moved. She threw herself at Mondo’s arm and latched on. The force behind her jump pushed Mondo’s fist off course just enough for it to miss Makoto. She could hear Makoto stumble back but her focus was solely on Mondo.

Just like before, he switched targets and reared back his fist and… froze. A face once twisted with rage was expressionless. He stared dumbly at her as she glared fiercely at him.

It must have been an odd sight, a tall, muscular boy with his arm outstretched with a girl hanging from his arm. Mondo couldn’t seem to figure out what to do in the current situation. It looked like he wouldn’t try and lash out again, so Karasu gave him very simple instructions.

“Put. Me. Down,” she said icily.

“Huh? Oh, right. Sorry,” Mondo lowered his arm so her feet could touch the ground. She brushed herself off and chirped, “So we are splitting up. We’ll meet up later, right?”

She knew that no one in that room could have been operating Monokuma so she could trust that they held no ill intent… yet. No one would work with someone that was holding them hostage… but they might become desperate enough to play the game later. She didn’t want to believe anyone would resort to killing, but… she didn’t know these people well. 

They agreed to meet up in the dining hall later. Byakuya, Taka, and Kyoko went off on their own. Leon, Hiro, Junko, and Chihiro grouped up and so did Hina, Sakura, and Mondo. Karasu herself joined Makoto and Sayaka in a group. Celeste, Toko, and Hifumi were still in the gym when Karasu and her group left for the dining hall.

She led them to the dining hall to check out the situation with the food. There were several round tables with chairs scattered around them but in the center of the room was a large, long dining room table with sixteen chairs arranged around it. Karasu’s eyes flickered to the camera mounted on the ceiling. She could have sworn she saw a flash of metal...

“It looks pretty clean, so that’s good… Er, I guess that’s not really important right now, with us being prisoners here and all,” Sayaka said.

“From what I’ve seen, this place is pretty clean. Sickness shouldn’t be too much of an issue assuming everyone takes care of themselves,” Karasu added, tearing her eyes away from the camera with some difficulty.

“Yeah, that’s true…” Makoto agreed.

“How ‘bout we check out the kitchen?” Karasu proposed, “We could make lunch for the others as well to maximize their investigation time!”

“That’s a great idea!” Sayaka chirped happily.

“What should we make?” Karasu asked, “We need a plan. It’s only 9 so we have some time until we need to start cookin’.”

“We might be able to set up a buffet over there,” Makoto pointed to the kitchen’s cafeteria-style buffet station.

“There’s a menu above it,” Karasu noted, “should we follow that?”

“What is sauteed foie gras?” Makoto asked curiously.

“No idea,” Karasu paused, a thoughtful expression on her face, “What about a build-your-own sandwich bar? And take down that menu before someone gets ideas...”

“That might be for the best…” Makoto chuckled nervously. Karasu removed any sign in the cafeteria that displayed a menu and hid them in the kitchen. It wasn’t well hidden but they couldn’t be seen from the Dining Hall.

“We can start cooking later, for now, let’s take a look around the kitchen,” Sayaka walked into the kitchen with Karasu and Makoto on her heels.

The first thing Karasu noticed when she entered the kitchen was the large assortment of produce in wooden bins in front of the room. Peppers, potatoes, apples… they had everything and more. There was an odd bronze coin hidden in the produce that was flat on one side and had a Monokuma engraving on the other; she slipped it into her pocket. The island housed the electric cooktop, ovens, and a microwave. Various pots hung around the island as well. Along the back wall were counters, two sinks, and a wall-mounted knife rack. A drying rack for the dishes and a spice rack rested on that counter as well. Above those counters were cabinets holding more dishes. The far wall was lined with refrigerators, freezers, and a deli cooler--which had another one of those strange coins hidden in it. She slipped that coin into her purse as well. Unlike the school hallways, the kitchen was well lit. Like the rest of the building, the kitchen housed a security camera and a monitor.

Karasu opened a fridge and looked inside. Various food items were neatly lined up inside but what really caught her attention was a bottle of ketchup. She picked it up and turned it around in her hand. The label declared it to be a Monokuma brand of ketchup. The slogan read: “Almost looks like real blood!”

“...” Karasu put the ketchup back where she found it. When she looked at the other processed, prepackaged goods; they were from the Monokuma brand as well.

“What’s today’s date?” Karasu asked.

Sayaka immediately replied with today’s date and Karasu compared the two. It appeared that everything in the fridge was safe to eat.

“How long do you think this food will last with sixteen of us eating three meals a day?” Makoto asked.

Karasu opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by…

“What did I say before!? Does anyone here have working ears!?” Monokuma has appeared. Karasu must have been used to people appearing out of nowhere since she didn’t startle at Monokuma’s spontaneous appearance.

“Graaaah!” “Kyaaaaa!” Makoto and Sayaka screamed in fright at Monokuma’s sudden entrance. Karasu did startle a bit after she heard her friends’ scream. She rushed over and put herself between them and the bear.

“You don’t have anything to worry about!? All food will get restocked automatically each day!” Monokuma exclaimed then disappeared.

“Are you okay?” Karasu asked, concerned.

“I-I’m fine, thank you,” Sayaka said then regained her composure.

“I’ll be fine…” Makoto replied.

“I think that’s about all we can learn here, what do you say we check out our rooms?” Karasu asked, “We have about an hour before we need to start cookin’.”

They left the dining hall and headed to the dorm area. Karasu knew exactly where hers was. As she walked towards her room, Sayaka and Makoto had found their rooms.

“Look at that! We are right next to each other!” Sayaka noted happily.

“Y-Yeah!” Makoto seemed flustered. Karasu caught Makoto’s eye and smiled knowingly. Makoto managed to turn an even brighter shade of red. Karasu snickered and ducked into her room.

She didn’t read his thoughts that time… but she didn’t need to. Does this mean she could control this ability? But she didn’t like the idea of practicing on her classmates… It was an invasion of privacy after all and she was a rather private person. Karasu resolved to avoid reading minds as much as she could. She had a funny feeling that this ability of hers nearly killed her. Many a time.

Her room was quite plain. There were no decorations on the walls—unless you counted the iron plates. Her sheets were pink and at the foot of her bed was a lint roller. As she walked further into her room, she noticed that on a round table there was a key with her name engraved on the keychain. She slipped it into her purse. 

Like the rest of the school, there was a camera mounted to the ceiling and a monitor mounted on the wall. A “Mono-Cam”; the monitor was apparently manufactured by “Monokuma Co.”... did that make the coins she found around the school Monocoins? 

On the privacy wall, hung a notice from Monokuma. The notice explained that the dorm's locks were impossible to pick or tamper with, that she shouldn’t lose her key as it couldn’t be replaced, the water would be turned off at nighttime, only the girl’s bathrooms had locks installed, and that Monokuma left a welcome gift somewhere in her room for her—a sewing kit with a map of the human body.

On her desk by the bed, she noticed a notepad with a pen attached. She slipped that into her bag as well. When she checked the drawers in her desk was when she found Monokuma’s gift. The sewing kit contained pins, sewing needles, a seam ripper, some elastic, some empty bobbins, a needle holder, a pair of scissors, and a spool of red thread. All of this was kept in a box with a clear lid and sealed in shrink-wrap. Karasu didn’t open the sewing kit or the book that must contain the map of the human body and shut the drawer.

She looked in her dresser and found that she had plenty of clothes that would actually fit her. She was kinda excited about that. They were _dresses_ , not oversized, baggy t-shirts. Granted they were identical to what she was currently wearing… but she won’t let that get her down.

What she was doing in baggy t-shirts, she had no idea… Perhaps her family wasn’t very well off?

She checked the bathroom next. The first thing she saw when she opened the door was a sink and a mirror. There was a contact case and a bar of soap on the sink. When she looked into the mirror she froze. She was pretty. Not as healthy-looking as she was in the profile photo, but pretty. She had golden eyes and ebony hair—a striking combination. But… has her hair ever even met a brush!?

Karasu ran her fingers through her hair, she didn’t hit a single knot. Her hair was brushed… So why did it look like a bush!? And what was with that contact case? She doesn’t remember putting in contacts… oh.

Karasu washed her hands, dried them, then brought them up to her left eye. She made a pinching motion with her pointer and thumb and something slid off. She looked down and saw a colored contact. A golden contact.

She looked up at her reflection and froze. Her right eye was as gold as the contact on her finger, her left eye was bright green. It reminded her of… something. She couldn’t quite determine what exactly the flash of green light was. It was rather unnerving.

She put her contact back in.

When she glanced at her reflection and smiled reassuringly at herself she noticed something odd through her bangs. She reached a hand to brush her bangs out of the way.

Karasu winced. Another bruise. She must have gotten it when she was kidnapped. She removed her hand from her bangs and pushed her hair behind her ears.

In the mirror, she noticed that she wore simple, yellow stud earrings. They appeared to be scratched up as well. She shifted her hair to cover them up again since they clearly had seen better days but she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of them. She nodded to herself, satisfied with her appearance, and continued her investigation.

To the left of the sink was a large walk-in shower. There were some bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash sitting on a ledge with a mini railing to keep them from falling. Adjacent to the shower and to the right of the bathroom door once you walk in was the toilet. There was a roll of toilet paper hanging on the wall near the toilet as well.

As she turned to leave she investigated the lock on the bathroom door. It did indeed lock like Monokuma said. She didn’t see a deadbolt on it either.

It was nearly 10 and about time to start making those sandwiches. On her way out the door, she checked the lock. Unlike her bathroom, the dorm entrance had a deadbolt. She felt safer knowing that once she locked her door, no one would be able to open it. She locked it and headed toward the dining hall. As she entered she heard the tail-end of a conversation between Makoto and Sayaka.

“Yup! I’m your assistant now! I’m going to help you out as much as I can, so let’s get out of here together!” Sayaka chirped happily. Makoto blushed. It was adorable.

“Who's ready to make some sandwiches?” Karasu asked as she approached.

Makoto and Sayaka declared that they were ready and together they cropped vegetables, sliced bread, readied the sauces and seasonings, and prepared the lunch meat. They had everything laid out at the cafeteria counter. They even found aluminum foil so that they could wrap the sandwiches so they could be consumed on the go!

They were ready for the others. Only… the others weren’t anywhere to be found…

“I’ll go find Taka and ask him to inform everyone that there’s food. It seems like a task he would enjoy doing…” Karasu told Makoto and Sayaka her plan.

“Sure! And when you get back, we’ll be ready!” Sayaka agreed.

Karasu left the dining hall and began her search for Taka. There weren’t many places to look, so she found him relatively quickly.

“Taka, can I ask a favor?” Karasu began.

“Of course! How can I help you!” Taka replied enthusiastically.

“Sayaka, Makoto, and I prepared lunch for everyone. I need someone to let everyone know that there’s food,” Karasu explained.

Taka had stars in his eyes. “Of course I’ll help. I am so proud of you all for taking initiative to prepare lunch for everyone! I’ll let everyone know right now!”

Taka ran off to hunt down the other students while Karasu rushed to the kitchen.

“They should start coming soon,” Karasu warned. Makoto, Sayaka, and Karasu lined up at the buffet they prepared and awaited the wave of hungry students. Leon charged through the door.

“I heard there was food!?” Leon rushed over, not even winded. Sayaka began to make his sandwich, chatting pleasantly as she did so. Hiro, Junko, and Chihiro came in next. Makoto started helping Hiro, Karasu helped Chihiro, and Sayaka helped Junko when he finished Leon’s sandwich.

“Do ya think ya could toast it like they do at Subway?” Hiro asked.

“I don’t know… maybe?” Makoto replied. Karasu looked up from making Chihiro’s sandwich.

“We don’t know if the plates are safe to put in the toaster…” Karasu was interrupted by Monokuma. Makoto and Hiro startled at his appearance, Makoto dropped the sandwich he was making on the floor.

“The plates are safe to put in the toaster!” Monokuma said his peace and vanished again.

Makoto sighed and stared dejectedly at the ruined sandwich on the floor.

“I’ll make Hiro’s sandwich. Why don’t you clean up this mess?” Karasu offered gently. Makoto nodded and went to grab some paper towels.

Besides that hiccup, things went smoothly. Byakuya was… unpleasant but he was civil by his standards. She could tell he was looking down on her. She couldn’t really explain how much that attitude made her feel so angry. She could hear how little he thought of her when he looked at her like she was a bug. It took all of her self control to be civil in return.

He knew how difficult it was for her to keep her composure judging by how he smirked at her.

Prat.

When everyone had their fill, Makoto and Sayaka made their own sandwiches and ate in the dining hall after everyone had left. Karasu only had an apple. She was suddenly ravenous with that apple in her hand but she forced herself to eat slowly. She knew eating too fast could cause her to vomit. Despite her ravenous appetite, she was full after a single apple. She must not have had much to eat before this place.

When Makoto, Sayaka, and Karasu walked back into the kitchen, Karasu only had one thing to say.

“Yeah, I’m never doing this again.” While most of the others enjoyed their sandwiches, they had prepared too many veggies and there were enough dirty dishes that it would take an hour to clean them all. “If you two wash the dishes, I can make a broth, dry the dishes, and put them away.”

“Sure, just leave it to us!” Sayaka agreed. She and Makoto began to collect the dirty dishes.

Karasu lugged out a large pot and added the leftover vegetables to it. She filled the pot with water until the vegetables were completely submerged and set them on low heat. She added some seasonings and stirred the pot with a ladle. She set the ladle down on a plate and walked over to the clean dishes.

It was a relatively quiet affair. At one point Sayaka and Makoto got into a bit of a water fight and Karasu had to remind them not to make a bigger mess. They laughed but resumed washing the dishes. They seemed to be good friends now, they might even become something more. She would be the third wheel but she couldn’t find it within herself to get upset about that… perhaps she’d been in a similar situation before?

By the time all the dishes had been washed, the broth was done and Karasu turned off the heat, removed the veggies, and put the broth in the refrigerator. She could use it to make a stew later.

After the kitchen was clean, Makoto, Sayaka, and Karasu sat down at the dining table to chat. Everyone else was searching the rest of the school, they didn’t need to go anywhere. They decided to avoid discussing what they found until everyone was here.

“So Sayaka, Makoto told me you’re psychic…” Karasu began.

“Yup, I totally am…” Sayaka started, then Karasu and Sayaka said in perfect synchronization, “Just kidding!”

Sayaka looked surprised and delighted. Makoto looked like he wished to disappear. Sayaka proceeded to test the full extent of Karasu’s abilities. There were times Sayaka guessed incorrectly what Karasu was thinking but Karasu just rolled with it. The result was a seemingly alternating-one-sided conversation that was impossible to follow.

“I think you two would make a good couple,” Karasu said and slightly tilted her head—almost inquisitively—towards Makoto slightly, careful not to look directly at him. Sayaka caught on to what she was implying judging by her blush.

“I-I don’t think now is a good time…” Sayaka stuttered slightly. Karasu disagreed but love was not something that could be forced without drastic consequences. So she let it go. She turned to look at Makoto, he looked so lost.

“Maybe we should stop this, poor Makoto looks so lost…” Karasu said sympathetically.

“Oh… I’m so sorry Makoto!” Sayaka bowed slightly.

“It’s a-alright Sayaka. I don’t mind. It looked like you two had fun,” Makoto smiled warmly.

“So what are we going to do for dinner? I plan to make a soup with the broth. What kind of soup would you like?” Karasu asked.

“Beef.” “Chicken.” Makoto and Sayaka replied at the exact same time.

“Seems we have a tie. I only plan to make one soup. I never want to see that many dirty dishes in one place again,” Karasu declared.

Sayaka declared that chicken soup was good for the soul and Makoto just nodded. _Makoto is a bit of a pushover at times, isn’t he?_ Karasu thought.

“Do you need any help?” Makoto asked.

“No, too many cooks will spoil the brew… but if you want to set the table, I won’t stop you,” Karasu turned and walked into the kitchen. By the time the table was set and the soup made, Taka arrived in the dining hall.

“Ah, Makoto! Sayaka! So you two got here first, huh? Too bad… I was sure I’d beat everyone here. I guess that just means I don’t have enough fighting spirit yet! Well, I won’t give up! Next time, I swear I’ll win no matter what it takes! Justice shall always prevail!” Taka declared passionately.

“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?” Sayaka commented, “Besides, we spent the entire time here. Karasu is in the kitchen.”

Karasu waddled in holding a pot full of chicken soup. The delicious smell grew stronger as she drew nearer.

“Ah!” Karasu stumbled and Taka rushed up to hold her up, “Sorry, my arms are still sore…”

Taka took Karasu’s burden from her and set it on a hot pad that Sayaka had set down earlier. Not too long after that, everyone began filing in, lured by the smell of food.

“What smells so good!? I’m starvin’!” Mondo demanded when he walked in. Karasu busied herself with serving everyone a bowl.

Byakuya sat at a small table not far from the large dining table everyone was seated at. Toko stood awkwardly near Byakuya’s table, with a chair that she stole from the dining table behind her. Karasu took some dishes from the table and set them up in front of Byakuya. He didn’t thank her. She wasn’t expecting him to, but a part of her expected him to scold her for the delay or being incompetent. Perhaps he wasn’t as cruel as he makes himself out to be…

At the dining table sat Taka, Makoto, Mondo, Junko, Leon, Sakura, Hifumi, Hiro, Celeste, Hina, Chihiro, and Sayaka. Taka had unknowingly taken her seat beside Makoto so Karasu needed to find somewhere else to sit. Between Hiro and Celeste was an empty seat, but Karasu would much rather sit closer to her friends. There was an empty place next to Sayaka, she would sit there.

“Toko why don’t you come sit at the table?” Karasu nudged the empty chair out with her foot as she gave Hiro a serving of soup. Like everyone else (except Byakuya), Hiro clasped his together as if in prayer and said, “Thank you for the food!” before digging in.

“Y-you want m-me to sit a-at the table?” Toko asked, surprised. She looked at the empty seat with a look of longing and nervousness.

“Are you not used to sitting with others? Would you be more comfortable at a smaller table?” Karasu asked. Toko straightened as an idea crossed her mind, _Maybe I could sit with Master!_

 _Since when does Toko have a master?_ Karasu thought, alarmed. It wasn’t hard to figure out who she was referring to. Toko side-eyed Byakuya, who was glaring at Karasu from across the room. The intensity of it made her wonder how she was still alive. Toko nodded hopefully, her face flushed. It was… worrying how she imagined having a candlelit dinner along with him, someone she had just met today.

Karasu picked up the dishes and set them on the table behind her. Toko’s face fell. “A-Actually, I’d like t-to sit over here…” Toko trailed off.

“Nope. You’re over here,” Karasu poured some soup into Toko’s bowl and placed it down at the newly set place, “Byakuya sat alone because he wished to be alone. I hope you’ll respect that.”

Karasu continued to serve everyone soup, leaving Toko cursing her name under her breath. Toko didn’t sit at the table Karasu set up for her but took the napkin, bowl, and spoon over to Byakuya’s table. She didn’t sit at the table but in the chair, she had stolen. She sighed. What was she supposed to do? Toko doesn’t listen and violence is out of the question. She shot Byakuya a look that was part apologetic, part helpless. He glowered at her.

Once everyone else had been served, Karasu took her seat next to Sayaka. Taka pushed his seat back and stood up, bracing his hands against the table, and announced, “Okay! It looks like everyone’s here. Time to start the meeting! Let’s all go around and share what we found out during our respective investigations! The sooner we find out what’s going on, the sooner we get out of here!”

“Wait, hold on a sec!” Junko interrupted before the discussion could really get started.

“What’s wrong!?” Taka asked.

“What about, uh...what’s her name? You know, the silver-haired girl. Uhh… oh yeah, Kyoko!” Junko began. 

Taka paused, “What about her?”

“She’s not here,” Junko stated blandly.

“What!?” Taka exclaimed.

True to Junko’s word, Kyoko was nowhere to be found.

“I wonder where she went. Has anyone seen her?” Hina asked. Everyone shook their heads.

“Wait, so nobody’s seen her…?” Chihiro asked nervously.

“Kyoko seems like the type to focus so hard on something that time just slips away. I’m sure she’ll turn up,” Karasu said, easing everyone’s worries. She was nearly done serving everyone.

“Darn it, Kyoko! You’re really going to be late like this on the first day of school!? Not only is she late, but she also didn’t tell anyone she would be late! A most unbecoming personality trait…” Taka grumbled.

“You’re being a real jackass right now, you know that?” Junko commented idly.

“Well, what do you want me to do!? Punctuality is everything! Now then, I declare that the first session of the Hope’s Peak Academy briefing meetings has begun!” Taka announced loudly.

“Karasu, aren’t you going to eat?” Sayaka asked, concerned.

“Oh, I’m allowed?” Karasu asked, then cringed internally. Several people looked at her either in concern or suspicion, “Sorry, normally everyone loves my cooking so much that they take my portion too!” Karasu giggled nervously then gave herself a small serving.

“I can’t say I can see why, this soup is standard at best,” Byakuya snarked. Karasu huffed in anger but didn’t comment. 

“That’s all you’re going to eat?” Makoto asked with a worried expression on his face.

“I never was able to eat all that much…” Karasu trailed off. Makoto frowned at her. Sayaka looked mildly concerned as well.

“Hey, we’re getting off-topic! We are supposed to be talking about what we learned! Not make idle chat!” Taka steered everyone back on track.

“I wanted to try and find some clue as to who’s responsible for imprisoning us here… But unfortunately, I made no such discoveries. That’s all from me…” Byakuya began.

“Really? That’s it?” Taka asked, surprised.

“If I’d uncovered anything, naturally I would have more to say. But I didn’t. So I don’t,” Byakuya replied curtly.

“R-Right understood…” Taka said, slightly put out.

“Who would have the resources to do something like this then?” Karasu asked.

Byakuya fixed his steely gaze on her, “What are you implying?” he demanded.

“What? I just want to know if there might be an organization that might be able to pull this off,” Karasu replied, taken aback, “The monitors were manufactured by “Monokuma Co.” and I think they made the “Mono-cams” as well…”

The look on Byakuya’s face said it all, _I’d never heard of a company by that name…_ Byakuya thought, but before he could articulate this, Chihiro spoke up, “You mean like Towa Group? They have been doing well lately and they also specialize in robotics…”

Monokuma appeared behind Chihiro. “Wrong! I am in no way affiliated with Towa Group!” Then he disappeared. It took a minute or two for everyone to get back on track. Chihiro looked like she wanted to protest but she didn’t have any proof. 

“If they specialize in robotics… It’s possible that the mastermind commissioned them and lied to Towa Group about what they were to be used for…” Karasu said, “I doubt there are many people that would willingly work with the mastermind… And once they realize what the robots are being used for, all the mastermind has to do is threaten to reveal that Towa Group made them to… ensure further cooperation...”

“So it’s safe to assume that in addition to the multiple Monokuma units placed throughout the school, the mastermind also has the ability to replace damaged or broken units,” Byakuya summarized, “Using brute force to escape won’t work.”

There was a tense silence as that tidbit sunk in.

“Taka! What did you find on your search!” Karasu exclaimed, effectively cutting through the tension. That was enough to get things back on track.

“I spent some time looking around the dormitory, and there I made the discovery of the century! I found that there was exactly one room for each person!” Taka exclaimed.

“Well yeah, I figured that out before anything else…” Hina shrugged dismissively.

“Each door already has a nameplate on it, so I guess all the rooms have been assigned already,” Junko explained.

“And each room key was attached to a keychain with the owner’s name precision-etched onto it,” Sakura continued.

“And Chihiro and I found out that all the rooms are totally soundproof,” Junko added.

“Your next-door neighbor could scream their lungs out, and you wouldn’t hear a thing…” Chihiro added.

“Well, each room also had a private bathroom, which could also lock,” Celeste mentioned idly.

“But it looked like there were only locks on the bathrooms in the girls’ dorms,” Junko elaborated.

“Okay, so they got a bunch of rooms ready for us. They’re assuming we’re gonna be here a while…” Mondo summarized.

“Well, better to have than have not! At least we don’t have to worry about surviving like wild animals,” Taka declared.

“Th-That can’t be all you have to r-report, can it Mr. Honor S-Student?” Toko snarked.

Taka paused then said, “That’s all for my report! Let’s move on to whoever’s next!”

Junko spoke up, “We went all up and down the school, double-checking the windows in all the hallways and classes. And what happened was…” she trailed off.

“Nothing. Not a damn thing. We couldn’t get a single one to budge even a little bit,” Leon grumbled.

“There wasn’t any hope of escape anywhere… The school really has been totally cut off,” Chihiro murmured sadly.

“This sucks… It really sucks! It sucks sucks sucks sucks SUCKS! What the hell are we gonna do!?” Junko began to panic.

“Goddamn, calm down! You’re starting to make me nervous!” Leon asked Junko to calm down, looking nervous.

Karasu turned to Hina, “Did your group find anything?”

“We thought maybe we could find some way to communicate with the outside, so we went looking all over! But...we didn’t find a thing. Sorry…” Hina apologized.

“I went back to the main hall, thinking maybe we could do something about that giant hunk of metal. But even with Sakura and me both, it wouldn’t budge. We hit it with desks and chairs, and nothin’... It was hard as, like…” Mondo struggled to find an adequate descriptor, “metal.”

“Well yes, it is metal…” Celeste replied, looking bemused.

“Anyway, if we’re gonna get outta here, it’s not gonna be through there,” Mondo added.

“I feel like I could cry… but no, I have to hold it in! I have to manage my hydration…!” Hina murmured sadly to herself.

“I shall tell you what happened next… It has nothing to do with communicating with the outside world, but it’s still worth worrying about. In both the school and dorm areas, there was a set of stairs leading up to another floor,” Sakura explained.

“But there were gates there, and we couldn’t find any way to open them, so we couldn’t check it out,” Hina added.

“In other words, at this point, we are only able to search the 1st floor. We can further assume that there is potentially something above the 2nd floor, as well. And if that’s the case, there is at least a chance it may lead to a way out,” Sakura observed.

“What about your group Celeste?” Karasu asked.

“If I am being honest, I can’t quite say we acted as one. Rather, we did nothing as one. We spent the entire time in the gym. Honestly, we are not the type to go running around a school like a gaggle of junior detectives,” Celeste commented idly, “After lunch I hung out in my room.”

“What the hell were you thinking, just sitting around the whole time?” Junko demanded angrily.

“W-Well it’s not like any of you i-invited me along! Nobody said hey, c-come with us! I blame y-you for leaving me out! I-It’s your fault!” Toko growled.

“If you wanted to go with someone, you should’ve said something!” Junko replied.

“Yeah, it’s not like we can read minds…” Karasu trailed off. _I might be able to though but I’m not telling them that…_ Karasu thought to herself.

“Hmph. F-Forget it. Like I’d w-want to go anywhere with a dirty s-slut like you…” Toko huffed.

“Slut…?” Junko asked in disbelief.

“That’s rather rude,” Karasu commented, leveling Toko with a steely glare. _Does she just insult everyone she meets?_

“Your mind is as thin as your body. You b-both m-make me sick to my s-stomach…” Toko continued to insult Junko. Karasu wasn’t quite sure what it meant to have a thin mind but thought it best not to ask.

“I... I don’t even know how to react. How can you say something so awful to someone you just met?” Junko recovered from her disbelief and glared at Toko.

“Toko, if you don’t have anything constructive to say then be quiet,” Karasu demanded cooly.

“Alright guys, everyone just calm down, okay? All this stress is bad for your skin, y’know?” Hiro cut in before the argument could get out of hand.

“Yeah! It sounds like you two are so close now you’re fighting like sisters!” Sayaka agreed with Hiro.

 _I know your intuition is really good but.. Wow… you’re so far off the mark with that one…_ Karasu thought.

“Then I guess my group is the only one left… I went and had a look around the dining hall…” Sayaka began, “I found a fridge in the back of the kitchen, and it was overflowing with all kinds of stuff. I guess we don’t have to worry about food, at least.

“Sure, for now. But even with all that, there are fifteen of us. How long can the food last…?” Hifumi asked.

“Y-You can just eat sesame s-seeds or something…” Toko commented. That sounds good… Karasu thought as she hummed around a spoonful of soup.

“Huh? What am I, a parakeet?” Hifumi asked, confused.

“I don’t think we have to worry about it. All the food gets restocked automatically each day. At least, that’s what Monokuma said…” Sayaka explained.

“You saw him!?” Junko exclaimed in surprise.

“Yeah, he came out of nowhere while we were checking the fridge, told us that, then disappeared again. He was so fast, I can’t believe someone could have been moving him around with a remote control…” Sayaka trailed off.

“Maybe there’s a control room?” Karasu murmured, “If there’s no way one person could use a remote controller to maneuver it, then it’s possible there’s a whole room dedicated to controlling Monokuma. It’s also possible that multiple people are required to control it…”

“A weaponized toy that can just appear from nowhere… I can’t tell if we’re supposed to be afraid or not,” Chihiro commented, “Karasu, with the right programming it could be possible for only one person to control Monokuma.”

“Really?” Karasu said then shrugged, “I’m no expert.”

“But was everything okay? He didn’t try to like, eat you or anything?” Hina asked, concerned.

“E-Eat her…? Um, what do you mean by that? I mean, when you say “eat,” what kind of eating are we talking about?” Hifumi asked, drooling.

“C-Come on, man!” Hina exclaimed in disgust. Karasu shuddered. She knew she wanted nothing to do with him but she felt like she needed to run. Like now.

“What the hell, fatty!? You’re acting like some kind of sleazy drunk dude,” Leon mocked Hifumi.

“Not like there’s a good kind of drunk dude…” Hiro added.

“Hey! Stop screwing around, all of you! Are you still asleep or something? We’re prisoners here! We could all just die any second!” Junko raged.

“She’s right. We can’t be makin’ stupid jokes right now. We gotta do something, or—! Mondo panicked.

“Now is not—” Karasu began but then a familiar voice cut through the panic.

“You’re all spending an awful lot of time yelling and carrying on. Do you really think you can afford to do so? Have none of you accepted the reality of the situation?” Kyoko asked calmly. Karasu got up and prepared a bowl for her.

“Kyoko! Where the heck have you been!? We already started the meeting without you!” Taka demanded angrily. She didn’t say anything but simply dropped a piece of paper on the table.

“Huh? What’s this…?” Makoto asked curiously.

“It appears to be a map of Hope’s Peak Academy,” Kyoko replied.

“A map…?” Makoto murmured.

“Wh-What the…? Where did you find this?” Taka asked.

“It doesn’t matter where I found it,” Kyoko stated.

“It DOES matter! You’re really freaking us out right now!” Taka said in alarm.

“Never mind that. What’s it mean?” Junko asked Kyoko.

“Just look at it. The building we’re in right now is laid out in precisely the same way as Hope’s Peak Academy,” Kyoko elaborated.

“So what you’re saying is...this really is Hope’s Peak Academy?” Makoto asked for confirmation.

“Well, in terms of its construction, yes. But it looks like it’s had a number of strange… renovations done to it,” Kyoko confirmed but looked pensive as she considered the renovations added to the building.

“Renovations…?” Makoto prompted. Karasu wondered how long it would take for said renovations to be completed. Taka implied that the metal plates on the windows or the vault in the main hall weren’t there when he got there. But who would have the best idea about how long renovations would take? It wasn’t like they had the Ultimate House Flipper among them. Maybe… Byakuya? He’s the heir to a huge financial conglomerate, wouldn’t he know a thing or two about this?

It was worth a shot. She would ask him later.

“I don’t know all the details yet. All I found was details about the 1st floor,” Kyoko replied.

“But then... This really is Hope’s Peak. We didn’t get kidnapped and taken to some other place…” Chihiro added.

“So stupid it’s not even possible. This is where the country’s future elites are supposed to come and learn?” Mondo demanded.

“But if this really is Hope’s Peak, where are all the other students?” Hina asked worriedly.

“Hey, come on, guys. Let’s just stop talking about all this… you know, negative stuff…” Hiro asked, oddly, calmly. Hiro struck Karasu as the type to panic quickly.

But aren’t you worried? Things don’t look good…” Makoto asked worriedly.

“Worried? What’s there to be worried about? I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people on charge of Hope’s Peak put this all together, right? Man, if I got stressed every time something like this happened, I’d have ectoplasm shooting out of my mouth! Good things come to those who wait, right? So we just gotta chill and everything’ll work itself out!” Hiro was deep in the Nile.

Celeste laughed.

“Wh-Why are you laughing? What’s so funny!?” Toko demanded angrily.

“I am just happy, that is all. It seems splitting up to investigate was a good idea, after all,” Celeste replied.

“Haven’t you b-been listening!? Looking around was a t-total waste of t-time! We d-didn’t find a way out, didn’t f-find who’s behind this. We still have no idea what’s g-going on!” Toko pointed out angrily.

“Huh? Is it not crystal clear what is going on? It is perfectly obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out,” Celeste replied intensely.

No one had a response to that. Karasu began gathering the empty bowl and placed them into the—now empty—pot.

“You didn’t h-have to go and s-say that. I w-was trying not to th-think about it… N-No way out… We’re t-trapped here. What are w-we supposed to d-do…?” Toko asked nervously.

“It’s very simple. If you want to leave, you just have to kill—” Byakuya stated with a smirk on his face.

“Don’t even joke about that!” Junko complained angrily.

“Everyone just calm down, please! We need to stop and think about what to do from here,” 

“There’s gotta be something we can do…” Leon said, grasping at straws.

“All we can do is adapt. Adapt to living our lives here from now on,” Celeste offered calmly.

“Live here…? Are you saying we should just accept it?” Chihiro asked.

“A lack of adaptability… is a lack of survivability. Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt. As someone who has come out on top more than once, I have a suggestion,” Celeste explained her philosophy.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Mondo asked gruffly.

“We all understand that we are trapped here. Which means we will be spending the night. However… you all remember the rule regarding nighttime, right? So regarding this “nighttime,” I think we need to add a rule of our own,” Celeste claimed calmly.

“What do you mean?” Makoto asked.

“You want us to agree to stay in our rooms at nighttime, correct?” Karasu asked. Celeste nodded.

“B-But why…?” Toko asked.

“The way things are now, every time night comes we will all start to get worried and anxious. We will all be afraid someone might try and come kill us,” Celeste explained.

“What!?” Sayaka exclaimed in fright.

“If we have to worry about that night after night for who knows how long, it will wear us down in no time,” Celeste continued as if she hadn’t heard Sayaka’s outburst.

“So you’re suggesting we limit our activity at night as a kind of preventative measure,” Sakura asked to clarify.

“However, unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree to follow it,” Celeste said calmly.

“I see what you mean. But… I think I can agree to that. It’s like the little lolita goth said. Without something like that, we’re just gonna self-destruct,” Junko agreed.

“On behalf of all the men here, I agree to comply!” Taka declared.

“Hey, you can’t just decide to speak for us!” Leon protested, indignant that his decision was taken from him.

“So everyone is in agreement? Good. Then if you will excuse me…” Celeste stood up.

“Huh? Wait, where are you going?” Chihiro asked.

“Goodnight, Celeste!” Karasu wished her well and carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen, “Makoto, when you’re done, bring me your dishes and I’ll wash them with the others!” Makoto nodded idly.

“It is almost nighttime. I want to take a shower before it arrives. So… goodbye,” Celeste glided out of the dining hall.

S-So I guess it’s pretty obvious where we go from here. We’ll be spending the night, it looks like,” Hifumi said.

Adaptability…” Sakura said pensively.

“So, Mr. Chairman… what next? One person already left,” Junko asked, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

“U-Umm… Well then, what say we call an end to today’s meeting!? Like she said, it’s almost nighttime anyway. We can reconvene first thing tomorrow morning!” Taka replied.

“Do we really have to stay the night here…?” Chihiro asked.

“We don’t have a choice. We can’t go for long without getting some sleep,” Junko replied.

“So we have to just give up…” Mondo trailed off.

“That’s all f-fine and good for t-today, but what do we d-do tomorrow?” Toko asked.

“Our only option is to split up and look around again, and let everyone know if we find anything,” Sakura replied.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s do that…!” Hina chirped like if she acted happy, she’d become happy.

“Then we’re done for today? Good, I’m exhausted…” Junko wished everyone farewell and left. Everyone else began to file out. Everyone except Makoto.

Makoto was staring at his soup in confusion. He had completely forgotten about it during the meeting and it should’ve cooled down by now. And yet steam still wafted from the surface of the soup, smelling just as good as it did when Karasu served it.

He shook his head, dipped his spoon in, and took a sip.

…

He smiled contentedly; Sayaka was right. It was good for the soul. He sighed in content and watched as Karasu left the dining hall, looking a bit frazzled.

“It’s just a stress hallucination, kitchens don’t just… clean themselves…” Karasu muttered under her breath, so softly that Makoto had to strain his ears to hear it as she walked by.

“I guess even Karasu is feeling the tension…” Makoto noted. He took another sip of his soup, “I guess I better finish up…”

Makoto finished his soup and walked into the kitchen. He washed and dried his dishes. Then he dried and put away the dishes Karasu had left to dry overnight.

He left the dining hall, yawning widely, and entered his room.

Now to figure out if his bathroom was really locked...

Ding dong, bing bong!

The monitors flickered to life and Monokuma's voice flowed through the speaker, “Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then… sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…”

“Well, that was close…” Karasu muttered to herself. She had just finished taking her shower and was dressed in nothing but a towel. She sat on her bed and looked at her right arm. She traced a scar on her forearm idly. It looked like it had been made with a blade of some kind. She glanced down at the open palm of her left hand, it had also been cut repeatedly but it looked like it had been self-inflicted… as if she needed to offer blood for some sort of ritual.

She wasn’t surprised when she couldn’t remember what happened when she got her scars… All she could figure out was that they were gained on two separate occasions given how different they were.

She dried her hair, took out her contacts, got dressed, and hung up her towel to dry. She gathered her dirty clothes and set them in a corner in her room as she couldn’t find a laundry hamper. Karasu walked over to her bed and flopped down face first. It had been a long day.

She yawned and snuggled into her pillow. She shivered, it was too cold. _I’ll get under the blankets, then I’ll warm up_ … Karasu thought and she wiggled beneath the covers. She began to warm up and could feel sleep closing in…

...a bright hot pain flashed across her forehead and she clutched her hand to where the pain originated: her lightning bolt scar. She felt unnaturally angry but it didn’t feel like it was hers. She whimpered and curled into herself as the intense pain continued to flare. She tried to block it out but struggled to do so; it was difficult to block out the pain.

When she finally succeeded, she was not only emotionally exhausted but mentally as well. She passed into a fitful—and mercifully dreamless—sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Remember when I said the last chapter was longer than expected? Well, the first draft was only 8k words. Then when the editing happened it gained 2k more. Before I rewrote this story, the longer chapters were in the 6k range. The rewritten chapters are at least 4k words more than the original. And it looks like each chapter I write from here on out will be in the 10k word range (no promises). If this trend continues, by chapter 5 we will have reached or surpassed the original in terms of length! With how the chapter draft looks right now, we will either be in the first investigation or the first trial! Crazy, right!
> 
> Don’t forget to leave a kudo and comment if you have the time!
> 
> (P.S. Also the blood is red but is censored as pink so the ketchup joke still works.)


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